Precision Auctions

In order to give 8-NT a taste of some other systems that people play, occasionally I'll post some examples of bidding from another system.  Before we talk about how Oliver and I might bid this hand in the "Precision Club" system that we play, think about how the bidding would go in your system.

In standard, north would open a minor (probably 1D), south would bid 1H, and north would bid 2C, and the auction would continue.

In precision, however, almost every hand with 16+ HCP is opened 1C, a forcing bid that doesn't show anything about clubs.  This means that other suit openings have a very limited range which makes the bidding over those bids more precise.  North has a 1C opener in this system.

Over 1C, a bid of 1D shows a maximum of 7 HCP, while any other bid is a positive response of some sort.  In the system Oliver and I play, 1H is an artificial positive bid, showing 12+HCP, so most responses to 1C show 8-11 HCP.  With such defined hands, it often becomes straightforward to determine the level to which we should bid.  In this system, South has a 1H response, showing strength, but nothing about hearts.

Now we need to start defining our shape.  The opener has a variety of bids showing various suit combinations.  In particular, 2NT shows a hand with 5-5 in the minors (much like unusual 2NT as is often played in standard).  This bid also limits the strength to 16-19 HCP.  So of course, this is North's bid.  

As North was the first to narrowly define his hand, South is now the captain.  What South would like is a way to find out if North has 2 hearts.  Fortunately, there is such a bid.  Bidding a minor simply sets the suit.  Bidding spades actually shows spades, but bidding 3H over 2NT asks for the 2NT bidder to describe the major suit holdings.  The system can show singletons in spades or hearts, or a void in spades or hearts.  This is what we want, so South bids 3H.

Now North simply answers the question.  He has a singleton in hearts, and bids 3S, the agreed bid to show this singleton.  

Finally, South can put it all together.  With 28-31 HCP, and no fit, but probably some semblance of transportation during the play, we want to be in 3NT, so he bids it to sign off.

Some things to note:

• You may or may not have gotten to 3NT with standard bidding.  Every system has hands it handles well, and every system has hands it does not handle well.  Constructing a system is a balancing act between trying to have a system you can remember and one that describes more hands more accurately.
• Many of the bids are highly artificial in precision club systems.  For example, observe that South bid hearts twice, but neither bid said anything at all about his heart suit.  In fact, South has not given any explicit information about his distribution at all!  (You can probably guess that he has the majors, and perhaps even a 6 card heart suit, since otherwise, why would he care about North's major distribution, yet still bid 3NT).
• If you ever play someone playing a system like precision, rest assured that they are required to disclose their method to you.  Whenever it is your turn to bid or play, you have the right to ask your opponents to explain the general meaning of the bids (technically, they explain their partners bids).  Generally, if it does not affect your bid at that moment, you would wait until the end of the auction to ask any questions.  So if you know you will pass, don't ask about the details of their A asking auction to slam, until you are about to lead (or until just after partner has selected his/her opening lead if you are not the opening leader).  This speeds things up and gives you a better big picture view of the auction.
• Of course, the last paragraph applies to you as well.  You should always be prepared to explain your agreements to your opponents.  This does not mean telling them what you have, but rather simply the general ranges and meanings attached to bids.  If you have never discussed a certain bid with your partner, you simply say that (though if you have meanings attached to similar bids in similar situations that might inform you as to what your crazy partner is doing, you must disclose that to your opponents).

Bridge is a game where we strive to do the best we can with the cards given.  We can modify systems, and signals to our hearts content, which leads to systems such as the precision club.  However, bridge is not a game where you strive to defeat your opponents via secret methods and codes.  

In summary, if you play duplicate bridge, be prepared to face some different systems, but rest assured that you will never have to guess at the agreed meaning of an opponents bid.